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Retail stores and Christmas/Halloween merchandise

I thought I had a great idea for a post - I was going to call and email all of the big department and craft stores and ask them for the specific dates which they set up their holiday merchandise. I would also ask if they're going to carry any Department 56 items. Sounded like something that my blog audience would appreciate the scoop on. I figured the stores would be excited to reach out to a niche audience. I was wrong.

Thus, only the stores which attempted to provide me with decent responses get hyperlinked:

Jo-Ann Fabrics:
"Thank you for your email regarding the Halloween and Christmas merchandise. The Halloween and Christmas fabrics should already be out in the stores with more arriving throughout the upcoming months. It appears the Halloween items should be out in the stores within the next 2 weeks. Christmas should start merchandising at the beginning of October. We look forward to another opportunity to be of service to you are JoAnn Fabric and Craft Stores."


CVS:
"Thank you for contacting us regarding your inquiry for CVS/Pharmacy. I honestly would not be privy to that information at this time. However, I would suggest you contact our Merchandising Department within the corporate office to see if they'd be willing to share that information with you. I'm sure that spreading the word to more shoppers can't be seen as a bad thing! Please feel free to contact them directly at 401-765-1500, x5888.". I have not yet called them.

JC Penney:
"Our Halloween will come out at the end of September and Christmas will be out at the end of October."

Lowes:
"Thank you for the product inquiry. This has been forwarded to the Product Specialist at your local location and you will be getting follow up within 24hrs. If you have any other concerns, please let us know." I actually just received a call and all holiday stuff will be displayed by the end of september.

Sears:
No response, just a simple auto-response email.

Macys:
No response.

Target:
"Thanks for your e-mail regarding the Halloween and Christmas merchandise that you are looking for at Target. I'm sorry for any disappointment, but we are unable to predict the release date of the merchandise. So, your Target store would be the best suited place to assist you with your inquiry. If you need assistance locating the contact number of the store, please call (800) 800-8800."

Home Depot:
No response.

Michaels:
No response. This was strange as we all know they already have put out their Christmas and Halloween Lemax village displays.

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